Current Affairs, December 2014

31st December:• President Pranab
Mukherjee approves the system of national body to appoint
judges, which will start a process of selection of judges for
the High Courts and the Supreme Court by making politicians and
citizens a part of that process.• President Pranab Mukherjee
appointed Dr Krishan Kant Paul as Governor of Meghalaya, Aziz
Qureshi as Governor for Uttarakhand and Keshari Nath Tripathi as
the Governor of West Bengal.

30th December:• Indian Test Cricket team
Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni announced his retirment from Test
cricket.• Indonesian rescue teams found dead bodies from the
debris of the AirAsia plane QZ 8501 which was missing from last
Sunday.• A CBI court in Mumbai drops charges against BJP
president Amit Shah in both the fake encounter cases of
Sohrabuddin Sheikh and Tulsi Prajapati.

29th December:• The cabinet has cleared
emergency executive order to ease land-acquisition rules in
sectors like power, housing and defence to kick-start hundreds
of billions of dollars in stalled projects, though investments
are unlikely to flow in immediately.

28th December:• AirAsia Flight QZ8501
left from Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore with 155
passengers onboard goes missing after air traffic controllers
lost contact with the plane.• BJP leader Raghubar Das has
been sworn in as the first non-tribal chief minister of
Jharkhand.

26th December:• BJP leader Raghubar Das
elected as the next chief minister of Jharkhand who will be
first non-tribal leader in the state to hold the post.•
Indian army starts Operation All Out against the Bodo militants
in Assam.

25th December:• Christmas is celebrated
all over the world.• Indian Government today celebrated as
the Good Governance Day on the birthday occasion of Former Prime
Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

23rd December:• BJP becomes the single
largest party in Jharkhand assembly election after winning 42 of
81 seats.• In Jammu and Kashmir assembly election, PDP wins
28 seats while BJP wins 25 seats of the total 87 seats.• 70
people killed by militants in 4 different attacks in Assam.•
India exported its first locally build warship CGS Barracuda
offshore patrol vessel (OPV) to Mauritius.• The Reserve Bank
of India (RBI) has granted additional six months (till June 30,
2015) for exchanging currency notes printed before 2005.•
Veteran Tamil filmmaker K. Balachander died in Chennai at the
age of 84.

22nd December:• The International
Cricket Council (ICC) announced Sachin Tendulkar as the ICC
Cricket World Cup 2015 Ambassador.

21st December:• Real Madrid wins the
Club World Cup for the first time by beating San Lorenzo 2-0.

20th December:• The fifth and final
phase of state assembly election polling ended today in Jammu
and Kashmir and Jharkhand.• Atletico De Kolkata wins the
inaugural Indian Super League (ISL) after defeating Kerala
Blasters by 1-0 in Mumbai.

19th December:• The Constitution
Amendment Bill on Goods and Services Tax which will pave the way
for a mega tax reform was tabled in the Lok Sabha today.•
Union Government increases the PF rate from 8.50% to 8.75% for
2014-15.• Poet and critic Adil Jussawalla wins Sahitya
Akademi Award 2014. Apart from this, five novels, three books of
essays, three of short stories, one of literary criticism and an
autobiography have also won the award.

17th December:• The Pakistani Prime
Minister Nawaz Sharif lifted a moratorium on the death penalty
after Taliban gunmen attacked a school in Peshawar, killing 132
students and nine teachers.• Indian female boxer Sarita Devi
banned for one year by the International Boxing Association
(AIBA) for refusing to accept her 2014 Asian Games bronze medal.

16th December:• Japanese Prime Minister
Shinzo Abe re-elected as Prime Minister.• At least 124
students killed in a Taliban attack in an Army School in
Peshawar, Pakistan.

15th December:• One gunman and two other
killed when police act an operation to end siege in Lindt
Chocolat Cafe in Sydney.• Sikkim Chief Minister Pawan
Chamling became the longest serving Chief Minister of India
after completing 20 years in the office.• Miss South Africa
Rolene Strauss wins the Miss World 2014 title in London.•
Viswanathan Anand wins the London Classic title after defeating
British Grandmaster Michael Adams.

13th December:• Dineshwar Sharma has
been appointed as the next chief of Intelligence Bureau(IB).

11th December:• Russian President
Vladimir Putin visits India.• In an agreement signed, Russia
to help India set up 12 nuclear reactors.• The United
Nations has declared June 21 will be observed each year as the
'International Day of Yoga'.

10th December:• India's Kailash
Satyarthi and Pakistan's Malala Yousafzai jointly received the
Nobel Peace Prize at a ceremony in Oslo.• The Ebola Fighters
are selected as the Person of the Year by TIME Magazine for the
year 2014.• Indian-American Richard Rahul Verma’s nomination
as the next US Ambassador to India.• Indian boxer Sarita
Devi accepts her Asian Games Bronze Medal which she earlier
refused due to controversial decision on final.

9th December:• 58 per cent voter turnout
was recorded in the third phase of the assembly polls in Jammu
and Kashmir while 61% turnout in Jharkhand Assembly polls.•
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been named winner of this
year’s readers’ poll for TIME ‘Person of the Year’ by TIME
magazine.

8th December:• 21 people dead in
Philippine after typhoon Hagupit hits the country.

7th December:• India's communication
satellite GSAT-16 placed into the orbit by Ariane 5 rocket from
the space port of Kourou in French Guiana.• Pakistan's
all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez suspended from bowling in
international cricket by the ICC after his bowling action was
found to be illegal.

5th December:• In Kashmir, 13 people
were killed which include nine soldiers, three policemen, and
one civilian in a series of terror attacks. Also six militants
were also killed during the attack.• NASA launches unmanned
orbital test flight named Orion to Mars.• Shiv Sena decides
to join Maharastra BJP Government.

3rd December:• The Chief Justice of
India HL Dattu has set up a special bench of two judges to hear
cases related to social issues. • 1979 batch IPS officer
Anil Kumar Sinha of Bihar cadre appointed as the new CBI
Director.

2nd December:• In the second phase of
state assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir and Jharkhand, 71%
and 65 per cent polling took place.• India decides to buy
126 Rafale fighter planes in a $15 billion defence-purchase deal
with France.• India successfully conducted the first trial
of nuclear-capable, surface-to-surface Agni-IV missile from
Odisha.• Bollywood actor Deven Verma died of a cardiac
arrest at the age of 78.

1st December:• 13 CRPF soldiers killed
in Maoist attack in Chhattisgarh.• World AIDS Day is
observed across India and Globe.• Tabare Vazquez again
reelected as president of Uruguay.